Chapter 330 Substitute
Qi Shen's head of silver hair hung down over his loose eyelids, his eyes were cloudy and bloodshot, and there were two deep grooves on the sides of his nose. The most shocking thing was his hands, with knuckles swollen like ancient trees.
This appearance is a far cry from the most handsome man in the capital decades ago. If they remember correctly, Qi Shen is not even fifty years old this year.
Qi Shen cruelly twisted the knife in his hand half a turn, his voice hoarse like that of an old man:
"You betrayed the alliance by agreeing to a marriage alliance with Qi, so you should have expected this day to come."
Xuanyuanze suddenly coughed, and Ren Shun, who was nearby, noticed his unusual behavior immediately.
A series of strange sounds came from his throat, which at first sounded like coughing, but after a few breaths turned into the sound of flowing water.
Beneath his scarred skin, something seemed to be writhing like a pupa, trying to break through the skin!
Ren Shun couldn't believe what he was seeing. Xuan Yuanze looked like this; he was definitely not a normal person!
"Gurgle... gurgle..." The strange noises from the man's body grew louder and louder. Everyone stared at the scene in a daze, including Qi Shen, who thought he had succeeded.
"Could this be..." Qi Jun's expression turned grave, "a substitute Gu?"
Substitute Gu, as the name suggests, uses Gu worms to create a new body. A person can live in the new body for a short period of time, but will eventually return to their own body.
However, regardless of whether the substitute is injured or killed, it will cause great damage to the original body. This kind of Gu technique is close to witchcraft and has been lost for many years. If it weren't for the vast collection of books in the Qi Kingdom's library and Qi Jun's extensive reading, he wouldn't have thought of such a thing immediately.
"Pfft—" Qi Shen drew his sword, turned his head, and looked at Qi Jun with a sinister gaze, "If I can't kill Xuan Yuanze, killing you, little prince, will be the same, hehehe..."
"Your Highness, be careful!" Duan Wei only had time to shout before he saw Qi Jun react quickly, raising his wrist to draw his sword and engaging Qi Shen in combat, which made him even more alarmed.
Qi Jun took a moment to instruct: "Take care of the other Yue soldiers first, don't worry about me!"
They thought that with Xuan Yuanze gone, they could finally get by. But then Xuan Yuanze used that damn substitute Gu, and now another traitor, Prince Duan, who has been on the run for a long time, has appeared!
The eight hundred Yue soldiers stopped moving after Xuan Yuanze's strange behavior and stood still. Their bodies, which were made up of countless limbs, were tightly gripping their weapons, making them look even more bizarre.
Xiahou Zhong and Duan Wei were unsure whether the people would be 'resurrected' again, so they could only try to chop them up as quickly as possible during this period, so that it wouldn't be so easy for them to be pieced back together.
On the other hand, Qi Shen had grown old after all. In the past year or so, he had pondered many methods of immortality, but he still made no progress. As a result, his body had been worn down, and his martial arts skills were no longer what they used to be.
He was relentlessly pursued by the young crown prince, and under the fierce wind of the sword, even several strands of his white hair were cut off.
"Young Crown Prince, now that your father is on his deathbed, how does it feel to hold power in your hands?" Between parries of the sword, Qi Shen didn't forget to taunt, "If that good-for-nothing hadn't stolen my throne back then, would you even be worthy to stand before me?"
Qi Jun frowned, remaining silent, but his sword moved even faster.
"Why are you still angry? If I hadn't intervened, that good-for-nothing would have remained in his position for at least another decade. Young prince, you should be thanking me."
Qi Jun's brows furrowed sharply. "It's you?!"
He said that his father was still quite healthy a year ago, but later he often fell into a deep sleep and was often in pain when he woke up. The imperial physicians were helpless and could only give the conclusion that his body was too weak to be nourished and that his life was probably coming to an end.
Now the emperor is practically a figurehead in the palace, and all the burdens have fallen on Qi Jun's shoulders.
"So what if it's me? That good-for-nothing is useless himself. He inherited the throne from his father but didn't cherish it. Look at him, he's been on the throne for over twenty years, doing nothing and achieving nothing. How many complaints and condemnations have been made both inside and outside the court?"
"By deposing such a useless emperor, I am acting on behalf of Heaven and eliminating a scourge for the State of Qi!"
"If it weren't for you and that brat from the Xiao family repeatedly ruining my plans, I would have already taken your place, led the Qi Kingdom to conquer Nanyue, and unified the world!"
Qi Jun's expression was cold, his eyes filled with frost: "A fool troubles himself, utterly laughable!"
Whether Father Emperor has rendered meritorious service to the country is judged by history books and the opinions of future generations, but your disloyal intentions are obvious to all the subjects and cannot be excused.
"Moreover, for many years you have wasted a great deal of money and resources in your pursuit of immortality, all for your own selfish gain. You deserve no regrets if you die!"
"You're talking nonsense!" Qi Shen said defiantly, his voice trembling with fear. "I'm doing all this for the great cause of Qi! Only by achieving immortality can I lead Qi to unify the world!"
Suddenly, Xuan Yuanze's change interrupted their conversation.
Suddenly, the robust body exploded, scattering into pieces throughout the valley.
Duan Wei and the others only had time to raise their arms to cover their faces, thus avoiding being splattered with blood and body parts.
At the same time, eight hundred Yue soldiers exploded instantly, with power comparable to a top-notch firearm. Qi Jun and others were unable to dodge in time and were swept away by the shockwave of their explosion.
In an instant, cries of agony filled the air.
Not only Qi Jun, but also the two generals, Ren Shun and Qi Jun, were affected, knocked to the ground, and suffered excruciating pain, almost vomiting blood.
Qi Shen was the first to get up, surprisingly. He held up his knife and grinned menacingly.
"Prepare to die!"
The long sword whistled through the air as it slashed straight down.
Duan Wei and Xiahou Zhong were too far away, and when they saw this scene, their eyes widened in fury.
Qi army camp.
Qi Yuxuan's ankle had just been rubbed and bandaged with medicated oil. At this moment, several maids were either brewing medicine or packing things. Two others had developed fevers, perhaps due to the shock. She didn't let anyone stay with her and just sat on the bed, staring blankly at the entrance of the tent.
Suddenly, she clutched her rapidly beating heart and sat up straight. Why did she suddenly feel uneasy?
The number of Yue soldiers was obviously far less than that of Qi soldiers. Logically speaking, several hours had passed, and they should have finished and returned by now.
But the military camp was eerily quiet. So much time had passed, and not a single piece of news, whether good or bad, had come back.
Xiahou Yin had already hurriedly dispatched troops there, but Tianque Valley was extremely small, barely able to accommodate a few thousand people, and it was difficult to send in too many people.
Qi Yuxuan was unaware that the reinforcements she thought were there were circling around the entrance of Tianque Valley for two hours.
These several thousand men were also elite troops of the Qi state, and the general in charge was an old general surnamed Zhou, who was second only to Duan Wei and Xiahou Zhong.
He had lost count of how many times he had seen that red ribbon they had tied to the tree as a marker. If he still didn't understand, then all those decades of fighting on the battlefield had been for nothing.
General Zhou slammed his palm hard against the tree trunk: "This won't do. If we can't find the core of the formation, we'll be trapped here and die sooner or later!"
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